What it Takes
by SkyeLeigh44
Summary: When Max finds out Fang really wants to be more than friends, what will she do? Does she have what it takes to lead the flock AND be Fang's girlfriend? What if Ari comes back? What if some family tragedy tears them apart? Cowritten with avidbookworm.
1. Was I really awake?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride, (sigh, start sobbing), though any plots or new characters are mine!! Mwa ha ha ha ha…okay I'm done. I'm not that evil. ;)**

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Max POV 

We were back at moms. We had been flying around for a couple weeks, trying to find something to tell us where we were going. The Voice was once again MIA, being as Jeb had left a couple days after we did apparently.

"Max? Can we go shopping?" Angel asked as she stuck her head into my room. I cringed.

"Dr. Martinez says she'll take anyone who wants to go. So far it's me, Nudge, Iggy, Gazy, and Ella."

I sighed with relief. "I don't have to go then?"

She smiled and ran out of the room. I cringed again. _What was that girl up to?_

_You'll see Max. We're leaving now bye!_ I heard in my head. I forgot to block my mind from my little six-year-old mind reader. Wait. Who did she say was going? I mentally reviewed the list in my head. Everyone but Fang. I started walking out of the room when I decided to whack my head against a wall.

"That looked painful." Came a voice from behind me. Fang. He had seen me be stupid. Though not for the first or the last time.

"It wasn't," I replied, pulling away from the wall, swaying slightly. I felt his arm around my shoulders, steadying me. "I'm fine."

He just looked at me, his face blank.

"Okay fine don't believe me," I said angrily, turning my back on him and walking downstairs to the kitchen. Fang followed. I glared at him, then grabbed an apple and headed outside. Unfurling my wings and running once I hit the dirt to build up speed. I jumped, and flew up back over the house and towards the clouds.

_Maybe I should have gone shopping,_ I thought.

I looked back, sensing Fang was somewhere close. Suddenly something dropped in front of me. I stopped, forgetting to flap, and dropped a few feet. A hairy foot flew at my head. I ducked. Something else dropped out of the sky. What the heck was Fang doing here? Stupid question.

We fought side by side, kicking at least 20 Erasers in their hairy butts. I saw Ari somwhere above, shouting orders the whole time. What, was he too good now that he came back from the dead to fight? I can change that.

I started to fly up to Ari, when Fang grabbed my arm, dragging my to the ground.

"Let me go! I wanna fight him!" I screamed.

"I know you do," he said calmly. "But you're in no condition to fight."

"I am too!"

"Look at your arm." I obeyed, to find a huge gash bleeding freely from my shoulder to my wrist.

"So that's why I felt lightheaded," I muttered.

We landed and I almost fell right over with dizzyness. Fang wordlessly caught me, and carried my into the house. He dropped me off in my room, and went to get some first aid stuff. He came back a few minutes later.

"So, how was your flight?" he asked, gently cleaning around the cut.

"Funny you should ask. Why'd you-" I paused, waiting for the room to stop spinning, "follow me?"

"I wanted to tell you something."

Why couldn't the room stop spinning and lights look like disco balls? "W-w-what was that?" I didn't see the walls anymore. I was looking at the ceiling and Fang's worried face. As my eyes drifted shut, I thought I heard someone say "This". I also thought I saw and felt Fang gently kiss me. Then it was nothing.

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**Please review if you like, or even if you don't. The first ten get a surprise!!!!**


	2. Crap

**Chapter deux. A.k.a, chapter 2.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it. (still crying) Think I can buy it from JP??? **

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Max POV**

I woke up with a pounding headache and a throbbing arm. I didn't want to move, it hurt so much. Wait a minute. Me, Maximum Ride complaining of a sore arm and head? Whoa. I must've whacked my head harder than I thought.

_Max, are you all right?_ Cried Angel in my head. I clenched my teeth together in an attempt to stop the fresh pain shooting through my skull.

_I was. If you have to talk to me come into the room and use you mouth, not your brain._

"Okay Max." She walked right on in from the open doorway of my room. I noticed Gazzy also at the door, talking to Iggy, who passed something back to a little brown haired girl, Nudge. Angel called out to them. "Come on in guys, she's awake."

I flock minus Fang walked in, Nudge talking non-stop about how happy she is I'm awake, Iggy looking at me trying to hear if I was okay, and Gazzy talking in hushed tones to Angel.

"Iggy I'm fine, just working on easing the pain in my brain," I said, looking at him. His faced showed relief, but his sightless eyes held something else, something I couldn't quite place. "Nudge quit talking about nothing. I'm all right so no need to worry. Gasser, Angel honey what are you talking about?" I propped myself up on my arms, wincing at the pain in my left one. I could see a long jagged purple scar running from the back of my shoulder to the inside of my wrist.

"That healed well," I said. I looked back at my flock. Something was up with them. "Okay just spit it out what happened!"

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Fang POV**

I got back to the house around 4 in the afternoon. I looked around for Dr. M, to see if she had the surprise for Max. She took Ella and the flock to the mall to get something for her, kinda as a double whammy present.

"Angel? Where are you sweetie?" I heard Max call from upstairs.

"She's not here!" I yelled up. I heard feet come downstairs slowly, and into the kitchen, where I was playing Mr. Innocent and making a couple of sandwiches for both of us. "Sleep well?"

"For the most part. I had the weirdest dream though. Then Angel woke me up. When'd you get here?"

"I few minutes ago. Hungry?" I nodded towards the 2 sandwiches already made. She hopped up onto the counter, beside me, grabbing the sandwiches and staring at me as she ate.

"You guys are hiding something from me. What is it?" she demanded.

"Nothing that concerns you. You were asleep, so we figured it was best to leave you be."

"How long did I sleep for?" The half eaten sandwich was in her hands, halfway between her mouth and the plate.

"A few days," I replied, waiting for the sandwich to be flung at my head.

"Oh."

"How's your arm?" I asked, unnerved by her behaviour.

"Sore." Came the distracted reply. "Very sore. It's healed though."

I stopped making the 6th sandwich and turned to face her. "What's wrong?"

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Max POV**

_I stopped making the 6__th__ sandwich and turned to face her. "What's wrong?"_

I didn't hear Fang. I didn't see him when he stood directly in front of me. My eyes were fixed on the moving van next door. Was that ARI I had seen coming out of the house?

"Max!" Fang was shaking me, making me blink.

"Ari. Next door. Moving van." I stammered.

"What?" Fang spun around, and stalked over to the window. He turned around slowly, his face pale. "Call your mom. She'll want to know about this."

"No." I hopped off the counter and walked towards him. "Let them stay wherever they are, we'll go get them out of here. Where are they?"

"Mall," he said. "What if Ari sees?"

_Take to the woods Max, and circle back._

I winced, and put a hand to my head. Fang put a hand on my shoulder.

_Voice, or Jeb, whichever you choose, long time no talk to and annoy me! Where'd you go after you left? Back to Itex?_ I sneered.

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**Please review my few loyal fans!!** **You guys are what keeps me going!!**

**Skye**

**P.S. The button won't hurt you, but I will if you don't review!! (Okay probably not but it sounded good.) oh, and to the first ten reviewers here's your surprise:**

**You get the satsfaction of knowing you were the first 10 reviewers!! And my many thanks for actually hitting the button!**


	3. Big Bessie

**A/N: Thank you to all my loyal reviewers for reviewing all of the mighty 2 chapters!! You make me feel all warm and fuzzy!! I heart you all!! Here's to make you all happy, 'cause I won't get to post for a while.**

**Oh. Underlined stuff voice. **

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Disclaimer: Need I repeat my sad and pitiful statement that I don't own it!?!?**

**Chappie trios!!! (Chapter 3 if you don't know French)**

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**Max POV**

Fang gripped my shoulder. I held up a finger, mouthing one sec.

_Yes Max it's been a while but I-_

_It's only been a few weeks! It's not like I missed you all that much. _I remarked snidely.

_Now Max you know that's not true. _It sounded like Jeb was trying to be sincere. Nice try, but no cake for him.

_Is too! Now what's going on with freaking ARI next door? _I screamed. If it's possible to scream inside your head.

_All in good time Max. He was needed again._

_So what, you just brought him back to life? Was it as simple as fusing a few bones in his neck again?_ I demanded. I reached up and gripped Fangs hand, towing him out the back door. His hand felt really warm in mine.

Maximum, you've saved the world from one company, but another one has come up. This one has even bigger plans than Itex.

"What? Take over the world then blow it up to create another 'perfect' army? Or, wait, here's a better one! Why don't they just destroy the world and be done with it? Or are they planning something even more fiendish than that? Like overtaxing things like bubble gum!" I realized I was screaming out loud when Fang tapped the back of my hand. I looked back at him and saw he was smiling. I looked down, blushing madly. Since when did his smile have to be so, nice?

Fang's free hand lifted my chin, forcing me to look at him. His eyes flicked upwards, towards a quickly clouding sky. I nodded.

_Jeb, just go away,_ I thought tiredly. _I don't want to have to deal with you right now. I have better things to think of._

Fang and I unfurled our wings at the same time and took off, staying close to the trees behind the house and circling around towards the main part of town.

"So what was Jeb saying?" Fang asked.

I gritted my teeth together. "Nothing worth mentioning twice."

"It's that bad huh."

I nodded. We had reached the main shopping centre. I was 99.4 percent sure that Mom and the rest were here. It seemed like all they ever did. Not to mention the fact that that was where Angel had said they were going.

I looked for mom's car. Unfortunately every black Honda looks the same from the air.

"I can't find it," I told Fang. "What if they left?"

"You're looking for the wrong car. She took Big Bessie today."

"Oh, right." I forgot. Big Bessie, the name of our wonderful old minibus was a mixture of colours, ranging from black(painted by Fang), to hot pink by Angel. Mom had saved this old thing from the junkyard, fixed her up and let us go crazy. We turned out to untapped artists. Who would've known.

Fang grinned and pointed. "There. I see our logo."

Yes folks we have a logo. 6 pairs of wings going around in a circle, like spokes on a wheel. All in silver. Fang and I had painted it on the roof.

I looked at him and smiled, seeing him start to grin back. "Ready to land?"

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**There you have it folks! A brand new chapter just for you! Hope you enjoyed it. **

**Skye**

**P.S. Please review!! I keep telling people the button doesn't bite, and most of you believe me, but some don't. So, for you non-believers-THE BUTTON DOESN'T BITE!!!!!!**


	4. Please People!

**A/N: Sorry about the late updating. Science fair and ski meets…so ya. Basically I've been busy. Stick with it though 'cause this should turn out really good!**

**Disclaimer: Read sad and pitiful statement mentioned in last chapter. (No more tears to cry…grabs a bottle of water) lol**

**Claimer: I own any new characters ('cause trust me there will be some (but if you really adore them just ask and I'll see whether I should let you use them or not (but you would have to mention my name in the disclaimer))) and the story plot. It's mine I tell you, MINE!!!!!!! Okay I'm done.**

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**This isn't really a chapter. This is a filler while my brain starts to work again 'cause I kinda have writers block but not really I just need some new ideas 'cause I know where it's going and a few things that will happen once I get there(and I am NOT telling you what they are!) but I need stuff to happen until I get there.**

**So basically what I'm trying to say...**

**If anybody has any ideas that you think will work with the current plot(not that there's much to go by), please review this "chapter" with them or go to my profile and PM me with them. The ideas I like, I'll reply saying I like them, and then the chapter they're in will have a wonderfully long dedication to whoever gave me the idea at the beginning. You'll have your own little section in the bold print. **

**So please people if yu want this story to continue send me your ideas!!!! I'm waiting!**

**Skye**


	5. Flying: What else is new?

**A/N: Ya like I said earlier people I'm really sorry for not updating sooner but I had ski meets, which my school's level 1 girls team placed second overall level 1 girls, and I placed 19****th****(for my first race that's not bad) and Science Fair (What happens when you combine 2 girls who like to make things explode?? The answer: a project on Diet Coke and Mentos). So I'll do my best. This might be a shortish chapter. Need to confer with avidbookworm about "A" idea. So not telling you what it is though! Anyways…on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: Follow instructions on last chapter. Unless everyone wants to pool our money to buy Max Ride off JP so we can all say we own it. Just a thought.**

**Claimer: New characters are mine. Story plot is mostly mine. I'll let you know when it isn't completely mine. avidbookworm, you'll have your own Claimer here.**

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**Max POV**

Fang and I flew over the mall, seeing Mom and the Flock leaving out the main doors with tons of shopping bags. We dropped down at the back of the building, furled our wings and walked out to Big Bessie. **(A/N: I love the name for the van! lol)**

Mom saw us first. "Max!" she called. "What are you doing here?"

I shook my head and glanced at Fang. He gave me a look that says: Say anything now and I'll kill you. I've seen it before. Multiple times. Only sometimes do I actually pay heed to it and shut up.

I heard Angel inside my head. _Does this mean we have to leave now Max?_

I shook my head at her, and held up a hand to Nudge, to stop the never-ending flow of questions before they even began.

_Ari knows you've left. I would hurry with the explanations Maximum._

_Put a sock in it Jeb. I don't have time for this. For you._

We had reached everyone by now. Iggy and Gasman finished loading bags upon bags of stuff into the trunk. "Mom, you're going to have to pick up Ella from school today." I said as calmly as I could.

She looked confused. "Why? Why can't she take the bus like normal?"

I looked at Fang, silently asking him to say what we saw and what Jeb just confirmed. He nodded. "While you guys were gone Max and I saw Ari moving into the house next door. It's probably not the safest place for you guys to be right now."

"I never knew the Carvell's we selling their house," Mom said quietly.

"I don't think they did either," Nudge said. I was expecting her to continue, but she was silent.

I looked at my mom, regret written all over my face. "Is there a hotel or something you can stay in?"

She looked around the parking lot, thoughtful. "I think it's actually about time I visited my mother and my brother. I haven't seen them in a few years."

I looked at my flock. "I'm sorry guys but we're gonna have to leave too. But away from Mom and Ella." I saw Iggy look down as I mentioned Ella's name, and Angel and Gazzy look at Mom. "We will be back though. I promise." I got halfhearted nods and a few tear filled eyes.

"Come on guys. Time to go." Leave it to Fang to make him be the big bad guy here today.

**Fang POV**

I started calling the shots a few minutes after Max said we had to leave. It looked like she had enough on her mind. I wasn't going to add what I thought to the pile. "Okay guys, we're going east for a bit. Then north."

Nudge looked at me, horror in her eyes. "N-n-north-th?" She stammered. "Where it's c-c-cold? And people live in-in, igloo's?"

I saw Max roll her eyes and Angel laugh, as Gazzy described Nudge's face to Ig. In the air once again we were all way more comfortable. Like we were in our natural element. You know, like a bird. For some reason it seemed like we were able to joke more up here, where the air was thin and the clouds were below us.

"Yes Nudge that exactly where we're going."

**Max POV**

Shame on Fang for teasing Nudge like that! It was funny though. At this point I didn't know where we were going, and was perfectly fine with letting Fang take over.

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A few hours later, now heading north.

"I can feel it getting colder all ready!" Nudge cried as we were searching the ground below for a place to spend the night.

"Suck it up Nudge. We're all going together so it ain't gonna be _that_ terrible," Gazzy called from a little ways below.

"Gazzy! How many times to I have to teach you proper English?" I yelled.

"A lot apparently," Iggy said from above. "Clearing at 10 o'clock."

"Thanks Ig," I said, still giggling. "Kay guys! Clearing at 10 o'clock!"

"Race ya Gazzy!" Angel yelled streaking past her brother and me, white wings working hard.

"No fair you got a head start!"

I watched as everyone but Fang and I raced down. We took our time, figuring Angel would send me a thought if anything didn't look right.

It took us a few minutes to get down there, and what we saw was not what we were expecting.

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**Mwa ha ha ha!! Cliffhanger! I'm so evil. lol.**

**Please review!! Need more idea's too!! I like the ones I got but I would really like some more!**

**Skye**

**P.S. That was a little over 2 pages people!! The chapter's are getting longer!**


	6. Understatement of the Year

**Chapter 6**

**A/N: I'm terribly sorry I haven't updated, but I have two chapters this time, so I hope that makes you happy!!**

**Disclaimer: Read chappie 3.**

**Claimer: I can't remember if I have one of these or not…I could look, but that would mean waiting for my super slow internet.**

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**Max POV**

_I watched as everyone but Fang and I raced down. We took our time, figuring Angel would send me a thought if anything didn't look right._

It took us a few minutes to get down there, and what we saw was not what we were expecting.

I looked around the clearing slowly, letting my eyes adjust to the slight dimness below the trees. There was no one here. I called out my Flock's names, beginning to panic.

A few minutes later, mainly involving me screaming at the top of my lungs, spinning in circles, Fang came up behind me and put his arms around my waist, stopping me from spinning around. I was facing him, my tearstained face inches below his. There was a small fluttering in my belly, like what you get before you make a big speech in front of the class or something. Not that I would know. I looked up at Fang, worry written across my face in extra-big, extra-bold print.

"It'll be okay," he whispered. I looked past his shoulder with sudden interest, slowly seeing shapes come out of the trees like shadows at night when kids are scared of the dark.

Angel, Nudge, Gasman, and Iggy were all tied up, and being held by about 40 Erasers.

"Breaking out the big guns huh?" I whispered to Fang. A ghost of a grin flashed across his face, then quickly disappeared.

"Well well. Maximum Ride. Never thought I'd see you again," snarled an Eraser sounding voice from behind.

"Really? What, they didn't think they could bring you back to life?" I spun face the voice behind me, seeing Ari for the first time in a few months. "Again? I can honestly say I never really enjoyed looking at your ugly mug all the time. You can only look at something so ugly for so long, you know?"

I could feel Fang silently laughing beside me, and the look on Ari's face was priceless.

"One more word from you, and you will never see them again," he said slowly, as if speaking was gradually a very hard thing for him to do.

I looked at my Flock, wondering what I should do. Save them? Save myself? Or just decide to kill us all by opening my big mouth one more time?

Fang stepped closer and put his arms protectively around my waist. Ari looked pleased, for some sick and twisted reason. "We'll go with you, but if anything happens to them," he said pointing to the younger kids and Iggy, "You will live to see the next day."

I looked up at Fang, confused but not surprised at his antics. He brought his lips close to my ear, and whispered, "You're not allowed to speak, remember?"

I groaned. This was going to be very hard, for however long it took us to get back to the wonderful school out in Death Valley, California. Where the only living thing for miles in either direction was the toxic waste from the school.

**Later**

We were in a truck. For some of us, it wasn't the first time. And I had a feeling this wasn't going to be our last. Our hands were bound, and only my mouth was gagged. Why only me? I really don't know.

I was sitting on one side of this super ugly Eraser driven (and yes I did say Eraser, not Flyboy, though they were sitting beside my wonderfully disgusting half brother, trying to convince to surrender the wheel into one of their more, shall we say, capable, um, hands, and Fang was on the other. The rest of the Flock was sitting on the floor, bouncing and rolling every time we hit a bump or went around a corner.

"You okay?" Fang asked, after I had whacked my head on the door behind me.

I just looked at him, with a look that said: Do you honestly think I'm okay!

He smiled, and I felt myself blush. What the heck? I was blushing? Because Fang smiled at me? I could hear Angel delighted giggles, and felt Fang's eyes boring into me. I looked up at him again, only to see his starring eyes delve deep into my own.

Was I falling for Fang?

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**Please review!!! And I'm terribly sorry for the looooooong wait!**

**Skye**


	7. Torture

**Chapter 7**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.**

**Claimer: avidbookworm wrote this chapter, just so you know.**

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Sweat ran in rivulets down Angel's entire body as they forced her to run, run, _run _on a treadmill in the middle of a complete sauna. Sensors attached to her skin measured her perspiration amount and body temperature, to see how she dealt with extreme conditions. Tomorrow they'd stick her in a freezer until she nearly froze to death, she knew, but the thought didn't make the stuffy, unbreathable air flow easier into her gasping lungs.  
Dimly, as her brain functions were decreased from physical exertion and dehydration, she sensed another whitecoat enter the air-conditioned observation room. This guy was a head honcho somewhere, she knew. He had that sneering overconfidence and condescending view of the world...  
A shock ripped through her. She had slowed down. _Concentrate_, she told herself. _If he's high enough up they'd have taught him to block me anyway._  
Out of curiosity, Angel sent a delicate probe into Mr. Head Honcho's mind, dividing her attention between the delicate telepathy and keeping her skinny legs pumping.  
_Interesting_, he was thinking, about her presumably. "You say this one is special?" he asked the technicians. She could hear him speak as he thought the words. As long as he processed the response at all, she'd hear it.  
"Yessir," one answered. "Telepathy, they say, but we've drugged her enough she can't use it," (_Hah!_ she thought. _Shows what you know! Obviously no one mentioned my metabolism_.) "she can breathe underwater-"  
Angel didn't get the rest of her list of powers, as Mr. Head Honcho's mind had gone off on a tangent. _Breathe underwater,_ he thought. _I think it's time we brought her to Atlantis. _

Gazzy felt as though he had barfed his entire guts up by now. Their attempt to "fix" his digestive system had gone horribly awry: instead of decreasing his gas issue, they made him vomit his brains out. The taste of acid burned his throat and the continued pain in his stomach made him curl up in the fetal position, ignoring the various pools of vomit riddling the floor of his cage. What did it matter, anyway? 

Nudge was, for once, silent, but only because she was asleep. She was allergic to something in the drug, and she stayed out for far longer than expected, her feverish dreams interrupted only by still-unconscious spasms of pain throughout her entire being. Had she been awake, she would have gone insane.  
Three feet away on a medical table was a needle filled with the antidote to the poison. A whitecoat sat in the corner of the room taking notes, consciousness split between her rough scribble and the sharp needle. As Nudge spasmed once more, the whitecoat took a few strides, picked up the needle, and stabbed it into Nudge's arm. Immediately Nudge stopped spasming, and switched to a natural sleep so her body could assess the damage and make repairs.

Iggy's eyes burned. Why, oh why, had they tried to fix what they had already ruined? Those lousy, incompetent bastards, he was blinded for life. When he was eight the whitecoats had fried his optic nerves; didn't they know it was irreparable damage? Didn't they have a file on him somewhere, so at least the torture through which they put him had at least a quarter of a _point_?

Because they were with the School, right?

Fang was completely naked, every inch of his skin attached to immodest sensors jamming his brain with sensations: his foot itched, his knee felt broken, his should ached.

_It's not real_, he told himself. _It's all a fake._

Still, it was all he could do to keep from showing any signs it was getting to him. He had to control his facial expression, his breathing, even his heart rate. Slowly, carefully, he blocked every nerve from his brain by conjuring up an image.

_Max was laughing, and he could feel her leaning against him. He gently put an arm around her, pulled her closer, kissed her hair._

"_You know what, Fang?" she asked, her voice now serious. "I think if I could bottle this moment up forever, no amount of torture would ever bother me again. Because all I'd have to do is think of this day, of relaxation, of- of you, and I'd be happy."_

_Fang said nothing; he didn't need to. Quietly he set his head on hers and tried to ignore the rush of pleasure she sent all through him, especially his lower abdomen…_

A whitecoat looked at the monitor: they had increased the pain stimulation over the past hour, and yet the pleasure centers of the kid's brain were lighting up. Christ, he was even- was it possible?- getting an erection. Writing something on his chart, the whitecoat shook his head. _Sadist._

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**Please review!!!**

**Skye and avidbookworm**


	8. Chapter 8 Part 1: I'm Max

**A/N: K. My lovely co-author didn't like these(to be honest I forgot to e-mail then to my lovely co-author), so here's her edits and blah blah blah I just gonna shut up now.**

**Disclaimer: Do you honestly think we own it??**

**Claimer: Do you honestly think we wouldn't own this??**

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Chapter 8: Part 1**

**Max POV**

I got to see my entire Flock be taken away while I was strapped to a wheelchair. Slowly, painfully, my Flock was marched down a dim hall and around separate corners, and on through the subsequent halls and doorways. Fang was the last to go, his normally expressionless eyes showing fear. Not fear for him, but fear for me.

I was lead in the opposite direction, towards a place I knew all too well. A few rights and a left, straight on for eternity, and the last door on the right, the one labeled "Surgery". I shuddered, remembering the last person I knew who was in here.

Iggy. The day he lost his sight forever.

I looked at the circle of whitecoats around the solid metal table, not wanting to guess what they were doing to the poor experiment strapped to the table. A strange whitecoat had pushed my wheelchair closer to the table, so I could see, even though I was trying hard to look away.

One the table, surrounded by sick scientists, was a girl. She looked to be about my age, with hair such a dark brown it was almost black. From what I could see her eyes were a piercing shade of blue, rimmed by the kind of blue you would only see in the darkest parts of an ocean. And she was still awake.

I watched, horror-stricken, at what they were planning to do to her. I risked a glance at a chart on the wall, and saw it was a slight variation on the same procedure they had done to Iggy. I could feel the little remains of our lunch a while ago coming back up. I leaned over the side of the chair and hurled.

A word of advice: When whitecoats find you've just thrown up all over their shoes, they aren't the happiest people in the world. Come to think of it, would you be?

As they scrambled around looking for a janitor to clean up the vomit, I focused my attention on the girl on the table, who was staring at me intently.

"Who are you?" she asked so quietly, it was almost a breath. From what I could hear, her voice was that of someone who had given up on everything.

"A friend. I'm going to get you out of here. My name's Max."

"I know. I've heard of you. How can you help me? I'm tied to a solid metal table and surrounded by _them_."

"You'd be surprised." With that, I started rocking my chair, sideways, hoping it would fall over sometime soon.

"Don't do that. They won't notice."

I stopped. Puzzled, I looked around. Every single whitecoat in the room was arguing over that damned nonexistent janitor. I looked back at the girl. She was still looking at me, but her eyes had gotten darker. Literally. The shade was much closer to black than blue. "You need to move back," she whispered. "This could get interesting."

I followed No Name's advice, and jiggled the wheelchair until I felt myself rolling backwards.

"Don't move. The straps will come undone in a few minutes on your chair. When they do, continue to stay still."

I felt the steel straps around my arms and feet slowly loosen, then fall apart almost immediately. I was scared now of what this girl could do given the proper time.

"Don't be frightened," she told me upon seeing my face. "I have complete control over what happens to metal. I could bend the table to my will too, if it was smaller."

I looked around again, taking note of the needles and antiseptic bottles, praying the whitecoats would be busy enough with their own inability to wield a mop, they wouldn't notice us. When I looked back at the girl, the metal holding her in place was gone, and she was off the table, silently creeping over to the door. As if she sensed me looking at her, she looked back, sending a glare that said: _Are you coming or do you want to be their next test subject?_

I followed as silently as I could, until a shout from behind made both of us start running.

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**There. avidbookworm I hope you're happy. Please review for my lovely co-author's sake!**

**Skye and avidbookworm**


	9. Chapter 8 Part 2: Nooooooo!

**A/N: This one has also been edited. Ocean, as she was previously known, has had a name change. What is it, you ask? Well read the dang story and find out!**

**Disclaimer: S.A.P.S. in previous chapter.**

**Claimer: Read previous chapter.****

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Chapter 9**

**Max POV**

We kept running. I could hear pounding feet of old heavyset men in big clunky shoes in the hall behind us, but they weren't getting any closer. If anything, they were getting farther and farther behind. I looked at the girl, running beside me, panting already. She looked at me, and I saw that her eyes had changed color again. They were the lightest shade of blue imaginable, so light they were almost white. It was kinda creepy if you ask me.

I risked a glance around, and saw we were already on the other side of the building. I was shocked. "I could have sworn it was larger than this."

"It's mainly underground," No Name told me between pants. "Are there more like you here?"

"I'm not sure, but they wouldn't have split us up among locations. I think they're here somewhere." Something deep down inside me seriously hoped they were gone, escaped, somehow, but the rest of me, the sensible side, said that they were here, so get used to it, baby.

"Turn here," No Name said. She had stopped beside a dimly lit hallway, with doors dotting the sides like flies on a wall. I slowed to walk, realizing I had fallen behind. I followed through, and heard the door clank shut behind us, sending the ominous feeling of dread build up inside me.

"Don't worry. No one ever comes down here," No Name stated as we trudged down the hall. I felt all turned around, but No Name looked like she knew exactly where we were going.

Around that time I realized that No Name was a really boring name to have. "Uh, what do you want me to call you?" I asked, slightly awkwardly.

No N-I mean, She, which I figured would be safe to call her for a moment, was silent for a minute. "I don't really have a name, but my boyfriend calls me Kai."

Kai. Interesting. "Mind if I ask why he called you that?" I looked around again, and saw we had reached the end of the hall, and her hand rested on the doorknob. Kai turned to face me, and I could see the mischief in her eyes.

"Ask him yourself."

The door opened all on its own, and I realized that it had a keypad on the back of the knob. Kai must've typed in some password or something. The room was bright, with windows filling two whole walls, and was furnished with modern-style chairs and couches, and even a table or two. I took all this in quickly while mapping exit routes. a routine habit whenever I was somewhere new.

It took a few moments to recognize that someone else was in the room. A boy, who looked to be about my age, with long blond hair and a pleasing but uninteresting face, speckled with some cystic acne. I looked at Kai, to see her beam at the typical teenager (at least in appearance), and introduce me.

"Max, this is Jake. Jake, meet Max. She wants to know why you call me Kai"

"A couple of years ago, there was a Hawaiian whitecoat, who said she had eyes like the sea, gorgeous and always changing. Then he told us the Hawaiian word for ocean is Kai, and the name stuck. He got fired within a couple of weeks."

I nodded in understanding, still standing in the doorway. I didn't really want to move, afraid if I entered their world, I would never get out.

"What is this place?" I asked, stalling.

"It's the central room in the experiments' wing. All the experiments' cages can be unlocked and accessed from this room."

I looked around, but saw no doors. "How?"

"There are hidden doors. In case the government comes, you know," Kai told me.

"So why haven't you escaped before? And is my flock here? And can you help us escape now? And- argh, can I see my family, please?"

"Follow me." Jake grabbed a heavy, scholarly tome from the bookshelf, and it swung inwards, just like in an old movie in a haunted castle.

Inside, the hidden passageway was surprisingly brightly lit. Lining it were doors, a few with little pieces of paper attached to them, labeled with experiment codes. I looked at them more closely, and saw that they were the codes of my flock. I stopped at Fang's door, and knocked. Don't ask me why I did, it just felt like the right thing to do. I wasn't going to barge in there like normal.

"Jake?" called Fang's voice. "Have you found the key yet?"

"Better," he called through the door. "Kai got out."

During this time, I realized, Kai had been concentrating, her eyes now a stormy gray. There was a light click, and the door was unlocked. An inch at a time, the door opened, until I could see Fang's face.

"Max?" he breathed.

"Hey." He threw open the door and pulled me inside, shutting the door with his feet and wrapping his arms tight around me, drawing me close. I could feel his muscles underneath me as I wrapped my arms around his waist, breathing in the smell of Fang.

"Where were you?" Fang asked into my hair. Which, basically, with him being a man of few words, roughly translated into: _Where the hell were you and you have no idea how much I missed you and we all thought you were dead and do you have any idea what we just had to go through?_

"I don't really know. I could find it again, but I can't stay for long. I have to go find the others. And why aren't you all in one big room in cages like normal? You have individual cells!"

Fang shuddered slightly at the mention of cages, but answered my question anyway. "I don't know, and I don't want to. I just want you to stay here."

I blushed, and I felt something flutter in my belly. The kind of jitters that you get before jumping off a cliff to freefall, praying your parachute will open. I don't have to worry about that, but still. "Fang, I have to go. If I'm found…"

"I know, but still." He kissed the top of my head, and afterward slowly let go. Some part of me was screaming at me to run, probably the more rational side. I ignored it. I smiled up at Fang, still feeling the blush creeping across my cheeks, and let go, turning to leave. My hand hesitated on the handle, the other part of me shrieking at me to run back to him and throw myself into his arms. I'm not sure if I liked this side of me or not.

I risked a glance back at Fang, who simply smiled, then left without another word.

Kai and Jake were still in the hall, right where I had left them.

"Do you need to go to the others?" Jake asked. I could see he had one arm around Kai's waist, and the new scary part of me said, _I wish Fang would do that to me_. I could practically feel my body take sides, one against the other. Side one said the previous statement about it. Side two said, _But Fang's your brother! Right? How could you think those thoughts?_

I shook my head, knowing if I did, I would never leave this hallway, and I didn't have a plan to escape yet.

I had started walking back with Jake, when I heard the shot, then the scream. I spun around, assuming battle stance, only to find a solo whitecoat holding a smoking gun. I glanced over at Jake, who had already jumped over Kai to stand in front of her, closer to the gun.

"Touch the trigger one more time and it will be you who dies, not us." I didn't know he could be so menacing.

"Really?" The whitecoat sneered. I saw his finger start to pull back on the trigger again, and lunged, knocking aside the deadly weapon. I landed on top of him, pulling his arm back and up, until I heard the sickening pop of his shoulder dislocating. He was soon unconscious. I got up slowly, to make sure he wasn't faking it. He didn't move. I looked back at Jake and Kai.

Jake was bending over Kai, carefully trying to lift her up, to carry her back to their room. Her face was white, and I saw that the bullet had gone through her side, clearly having hit something major, judging by the amount of the deep redness staining her shirt and pants and Jake Her once bright eyes were dim, just a normal boring shade of blue, and her dark hair spread in a fan-like shape around her head. I had to look away; the sight made my insides churn like a blender, and not in the nice way like when I looked into Fang's eyes.

Struggling for breath, Kai opened her mouth, and shuddered out, "If you find the Lost City, Max, you will be free. Find it for me, Max, to save your family, and what remains of mine. Good-bye, Max. Jake, I love you." With those final confusing words, she was gone.

Jake stood up numbly, and walked down the hall, away from the room he had once shared with a living breathing girl named Kai. I don't know where he went, or what ever happened to him, but he was soon gone from my sight for forever. I looked once more at Kai, her limp form lying on the ground, far away from the body of her unconscious killer. I took a few steps back towards the wall, and walked into Fang's room, not even bothering to knock this time.

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**Please review!! Go to avidbookworm's pro to say what you thought about this chappie 'cause avidbookworm is co-writing this with me. Here's the link: and Skye**


	10. Author's Note

Okay. I'm really sorry to get your hopes up about a new chapter, but this is an author's note. This story is currently on hold, for the summer, and will hopefully resume in September.

Sorry!!

SkyeLeigh44 and avidbookworm


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